Nothing quite like the Lions

For players and supporters alike, there really is nothing quite like the Lions.

Being chosen to represent the four Home Unions is the biggest honour in the game for any British and Irish player.

Winning international honours with your own country is a huge achievement but ask any Lion and he will tell you the same thing: touring with the Lions is a cut above the rest.

With that in mind, the Clubhouse takes a look at why so many Lions past and present hold Britain and Irelandâ00s elite in such high regard.

Jerry Guscott â00 Bath centre who toured three times as a Lion in 1989, 1993 and 1997, kicking a series-clinching drop goal in the last of those tours

There is nothing in rugby to touch the Lions. They have always meant more to me than any other team. Lions tours are far more intense than playing for England â00 they provide a stage on which you can find a place in history. They certainly provided me with a world stage on which to play a leading role after an uncompromising season (1996/97) with England in which I had had to play bit parts.

I would like to see the Lions continue for ever, although it still intrigues me how a group of blokes touring a country for a couple of months can have such a tremendous time doing something so painful. They are a one-off, and there is no greater inspiration in the British and Irish game.

The Lions concept breaks down barriers and preconceptions bewteen individuals and nationalities like nothing else.

Gareth Edwards â00 Cardiff scrum-half who made 10 Test appearances for the Lions in 1968, 1971 and 1974 and is arguably the gameâ00s greatest-ever player

The thing that is so special to me about the Lions is the different cultures and backgrounds coming together. No Lion will ever forget the camaraderie that you share as a squad. It is such a close knit group it is fantastic. Whether you go 10 years without seeing each other, you still share that common bond that is unique.

It is an absolute pleasure and honour to tour with the Lions and I just hope that the 2009 squad will feel the same in 30 years as we do now. Sometimes the Lions will be successful, sometimes they wonâ00t but no Lion will ever forget the special friends they made and the fun that they had.

Mike Teague â00 Gloucester back row star who toured with the Lions in 1989 and 1993, winning the Man-of-the-Series award on his first Lions adventure

I remember going on my first tour and pulling on a shirt in which you feel you canâ00t possibly lose. You look around the changing room at the amazing players surrounding you and feel such pride.

I was injured for some of the 1989 tour and I honestly believe that the best team talk I have ever heard was when I was sat in the stands while I was injured and listened to the Australians around me slating the Lions.

To me the Lions is truly special and a fantastic experience. I hope the 2009 guys are successful and make the most of the opportunity.

Neil Back â00 Leicester openside who became the oldest Test Lion four years ago when he appeared on his third successive tour

When you walk into a Lions camp as an England, Scotland, Ireland or Wales player, you become a Lion. Itâ00s great to rub shoulders with some of the greatest players ever to play the game in the northern hemisphere. To share their views and outlooks and get a different point of view on things is excellent.

I made some fantastic lifelong friends from the tours. You share moments both on and off the pitch that youâ00ll never forget. Iâ00m very proud and very pleased to have been involved in that.

Brian Moore â00 Harlequins hooker who started five Tests on the 1989 tour of Australia and the 1993 tour of New Zealand

When I was a schoolboy, I felt that there was an otherness, a mysterious quality about the Lions. They always played away, thousands of miles away, so you never saw them in the flesh. Until as recently as the 1970s, the series they played were never televised and relatively few media men followed them.

So the Lions have always had something of an unreal and heroic quality. It is through the Lions, rather than through touring with your own single country, that you become one of the gods of the game.

Twice a tourist, Brian Moore believes the Lions have heroic qualities

Bill Beaumont â00 Fylde second row who became a Lion as a player in 1977, as captain in 1980 and as team manager in 2005

I hope people still see the Lions as having an important role to play on the world stage. It is important for the players because it elevates them to a different level from playing for their country.

I believe the two major brands that people want to buy, because of what they stand for historically, are the Lions and All Blacks. It would be a tragedy if the Lions were ever disbanded.

Fran Cotton â00 Sale prop who toured with the Lions in 1974, 1977 and 1980 and went on to manage Ian McGeechanâ00s victorious squad on their 1997 tour of South Africa

To be chosen to tour with the British & Irish Lions should be the pinnacle of any playerâ00s career. To play for your country is a fantastic experience but to be selected to tour as a British Lion is the stuff of dreams. I had the great honour of to tour with the Lions on three occasions as a playerâ0¦all three of those tours are indelibly etched on my memory.

In the fifth of a series of interviews, British & Irish Lions fans reminisce on their favourite tour memories. Here Colin Moffitt recounts his trip to Australia for the triumphant 2013 tour against the Wallabies.

Victory on a British & Irish Lions tour, alongside some memorable performances in the red of Wales, has seen Mike Phillips follow in the footsteps of legendary compatriots like JPR Williams and Phil Bennett - and it is a legacy he may have been destined to join since his junior days at Whitland RFC.

In the fourth of a series of interviews, British & Irish Lions fans reminisce on their favourite tour memories. Here Norman Roberts - father of Lions centre Jamie Roberts - recounts his trips to South Africa and Australia.

There is nothing quite like being on Tour! The buzz and atmosphere generated on a Lions Tour is memorable. Here's what some of the travelling fans thought of their trip to Australia in 2013. Secure your place for New Zealand 2017 at www.lionstour.com

Ryan Grant displayed some impressive singing skills while on tour with the British & Irish Lions. The full release of Lions Raw will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray from October 28th. Pre-order on Amazon.